At around eleven, Poppy snuggled into the single bed and listened to the dull thumps and talking coming from the party wall next to her. It took her too long to work out what the sounds were, but when she did she groaned and sat up, making eye contact with a miniature dragon which was curled up on one of the shelves.

"This happen a lot?" she asked, nodding her head towards the loud wall. When the dragon snorted and turned its head away, she stood up, pushing the covers off, and said, "and now you're talking to a fake dragon..."

She didn't have anything to wake up for in the morning anyway – Rahul had sent Charlie an owl to say that Poppy's theory and practical tests which she'd taken that morning would count as her exams done, so she just had to wait a couple of days until her interview which would be with Dragan the Elder in the archives.

And she wasn't too worried about getting to job anymore, either - Charlie had said it was currently between her and two other people who could start before her, but the final decision was up to Dragan the Elder, and Charlie said that he was sure Dragan already preferred her.

So, rather than being annoyed that she was being kept up, she found herself perusing Charlie's books.

She smiled, picking out one of the rarer book types on the shelf – fiction. Her eyes widened when she realised that the one she'd picked was the romance book that Hermione and Ginny had tried to get her to read – Taming A Dragon Tamer.

The noises on the other side of the wall increased and Poppy grimaced and made a hasty exit for the kitchen. She sat at the table with a glass of orange juice and had read a quarter of the engrossing book by the time she was interrupted by a shirtless Charlie. She tried not to stare at his toned chest and distracted herself but taking a long sip of her juice.

"Uh..." he said, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry, I just popped down for a drink. You're still up?" he asked, eyeing the clock which said that it was now almost two in the morning.

"Just reading," she replied quickly, trying to hide the cover from him.

Charlie shrugged and frowned, and then walked over to the sink, filling a cup at the tap.

"You know there's a spell for that?" she asked.

Charlie turned and leant against the counter. "You know, I think I must've missed that lesson..."

Poppy laughed and then bit her lip and looked down at the book which was still open on the table in front of her. A tale of two friends who fell in love, it had somewhat changed her worries about telling Charlie how she felt. Or seeing if he was as interested in her as she was in him. Stupid Ginny.

"I can see the back enclosures from the window," he explained, pointing outside. "I've just got used to checking for any issues while I get a drink. What's up?"

Despite her nervousness she asked, "Charlie, do you... Do you have a girlfriend?" He choked slightly on the large gulp of water he'd just taken, and she corrected, "or boyfriend? Or partner. Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

Charlie shook his head and coughed again. "Girlfriend," he wheezed, still coughing.

"Oh," she whispered. "Do you think I'll meet-"

"No, sorry," he said with another cough. "I don't have one, no, but it would be girlfriend if I had one." His ears and cheeks turned red. "I just don't have time to meet many new people, and, well, it uh... takes me a little while to realise I like... well... uh... dragons are my focus, and... well, I uh... I find it hard to-"

"It's okay," she replied, smiling. "You don't have to explain."

He nodded with a thankful look and paused for a moment before he asked, "You have an uh... well, you're in a relationship, right?"

Poppy shook her head and laughed. "Nope, no, no boyfriend, no girlfriend, not at the moment anyway."

"Huh," he said, frowning now. "I didn't realise you were-"

"Woefully alone?"

She stopped at Charlie's laugh. "Yeah," he replied, "Ginny said you were ditching her for that Triwizard champion all the time and I just assumed you were dating."

"Cedric? You know we're just friends, and I'm pretty sure he's dating Cho Chang," she said, frowning and trying to work out why he would think that. "And Krum's taking Hermione to the ball if you can believe it... Apparently it's just girls his age he won't talk to..."

"No, uh... Fleur? The Beauxbatons champion? Blonde, French, beautiful? She did well against the Welsh Green and Ginny wrote me that she saw you off when you left for the sanctuary..."

"Oh! No! Friends. Just friends," she said, laughing awkwardly.

Charlie nodded, a small smile on his face as he stared at the floor. "Cool..."

"Cool?" she asked, gulping.

Charlie looked at her now. "Cool."

She pursed her lips to hide her smile and turned her attention back to the book.

Charlie paused in the doorway. "Try to get some sleep. I know you're free tomorrow, but I was hoping you'd come spend some time with me? I wanted to show you how that Fireball's doing, and I thought we could check in on Norberta for Hagrid."

Poppy grinned and nodded immediately. "That would be amazing!"

"Right, well my shift starts at seven, so get to bed. Nix and Dala can wait."

Poppy gasped, hid the book on her lap, and placed her head in her hands. She listened to him laugh while he made his way back upstairs.

"See, all good. Most of her eggs hatched about a week ago, but this little one..." Charlie said, pointing at an egg which was tucked underneath the Fireball's tummy, "is taking a little longer. We think it might be one she knocked when she was stamping on the others at the First Task... We're hoping it just needs a little more time."

Poppy nodded and whined slightly, moving closer to the wooden gate separating her and the dragon. She placed her feet up on the first rung of the gate and lifted herself up so that she could see over the top.

Charlie, who was standing inside the enclosure, chuckled. "Stay back, okay? She's got a range of twenty feet and I don't want to explain to Mum why I let you get fried..."

Poppy watched Charlie and his colleagues tend to the baby dragons, and then drop medicine into the Fireball's water.

"Are you meant to be there?" someone called, and Poppy jumped down, turning to see Quentin, Charlie's friend, and the large group of potential Dragonologists.

"Uh..." she said, staring at the group, who were looking at her weirdly.

"Oh! Sorry Poppy, didn't recognise you," Quentin said, throwing his arms out and walking towards her with a grin on his face and his arms outstretched. Poppy looked around nervously but then hugged him when he got to her. "Just psyching them out," he said, and Poppy laughed, finally understanding.

He turned around and began to jog away with the gaggle of entrants running after him as he called, "What would you do if a baby got out of its enclosure?"

"They're treating it more like a bootcamp than an interview," Poppy said when she and Charlie began to walk towards the canteen a while later.

"Yeah, well, this intake's a bit different. They opened it up for people who haven't got their Care of Magical Creatures qualification. Last time they did that-"

"Let me guess, someone died?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No," Charlie replied, stone faced. "One of the babies almost did."

"What?" she asked, stopping.

"Yeah... which is why they're trying to drill it in that in an emergency or a life or death situation you have to make sure you and your colleagues survive, but try not to hurt one of the creatures here."

"Merlin…"

"It's okay, it was all sorted out in the end," Charlie said, smiling and throwing his arm around Poppy's shoulders as they walked.

Poppy smiled and looped her arm around his waist. When they reached the canteen he loosened his grip, but they sat together for lunch, and then he introduced her to Dragan the Elder properly when they passed the older wizard in the hall.

"Aha! There she is!" Dragan said, his wrinkled face twisted into a kind smile. His words were slower than the other day, almost as if he was taking care to annunciate every syllable. She knew English wasn't his first language, and that unlike his daughter he'd had to learn the language as an adult, so she appreciated his kindness for her. "Come, come, we'll get you started."

"Started?" Poppy asked, shooting a worried look to Charlie, who was trying not to laugh.

"I asked Dragan if he could give you a tour of the archives. Thought it might be good ahead the interview with Rahul and him. That okay?"

Poppy thought for a moment, and then asked, "Will you be staying?" in a whisper.

Charlie chuckled and shook his head. "I have to work, remember? But you'll be fine. Right Drag?"

The older wizard nodded and beckoned Poppy into a room filled with piles and piles of papers, boxes stacked from floor to ceiling, and cabinets overflowing with parchment.

"This is… horrendous," she said, staring at the scene in front of her.

Dragan laughed. "This is what they happens when you put a Dragonologist in charge of records for forty years. Thank Merlin they have got someone competent for the pay, or we would be short handed… Well… Ready to get stuck in?"

"Stuck in?" she asked, staring wide eyed. "I thought we were having a tour?"

"This is the tour!" he said, throwing his arms out. "Welcome to the archives. Over here we have mess, over here, more mess, and over here…" he rubbed his chin. "Probably more mess," he said good humouredly. "Look, you can leave it to want- uh, leave if you want, but Charlie said you might be bored as you've already done your entry exam… so… help me sort this out while we talk about the job?"

Poppy let out a shocked laugh, and then, when she saw that he was serious, she grinned. "You're serious?"

"When you have been burnt as many times as I have, you learn to get to the point."

"Amazing. Yes. I mean… this really is horrendous, but at least it'll keep my mind on something while I ask you stupid questions…"

"There are no stupid questions, there are only answers you have not been given yet."

"And then we found this paper from last year offering fifteen hundred galleons from a man in Alabama who said that he would send the money as long as he could deliver it in person and see a dragon in the flesh! Dragan's written back to him, so we'll see if he's still interested, but that's ridiculous, right? Fifteen hundred galleons, and Dragan just forgot that he read the letter and put it in that pile? And I found this little note from Dragan's wife asking him to come home early for dinner. It was from ten years ago. He said he'll let me know tomorrow if she says he came home on time or not… I'm boring you, aren't I?" she asked, stabbing a piece of chicken with her fork.

She'd been unable to stop talking about the records and Dragan the Elder since she'd been dropped back off at Charlie's house. She'd told him titbits of information on and off while he made them dinner, and even now, half-way through their meal, she couldn't stop herself.

"No," he said, laughing. "You're really not. It's nice to see you excited again. It's been a while…"

"You've not seen me in a while,..." she said, smiling.

"True… but even in the summer… you're less…"

"Watch what you say here," she joked.

"Bubbly. I was going to say bubbly. But now, here, you're you again. At least… an older version of the you I knew… that sounds ridiculous."

"Yeah it does," she admitted, laughing. She took a sip of her wine to try and quell her continued laughter.

Charlie reached over and stole a few of her untouched green beans. "That's what you get for making fun of me in my own house."

"What? Scurvy?" she asked, coughing when the drink went down the wrong hole.

"What on earth is sker… did you say s'curvy?"

"No! Scurvy! Wizards don't have that one, huh?" she asked, wiping her lips on her napkin.

Charlie shook his head, and Poppy laughed and explained what she'd meant. After dinner they retired to the living room and read and chatted, and then went their separate ways to sleep.

Poppy dreamt of Charlie that night, and when she woke to the smell of bacon and the sound of his off-key singing, she thought for a moment that she'd died and gone to heaven. But then she realised that if she was in heaven she would have woken in his bed…

"You're chipper," she said, walking into the kitchen wearing a long sleeved t-shirt and pyjama trousers. She almost bumped into Charlie who was holding two plates with bacon sandwiches on them.

"I was just coming to wake you. Come on," he said, nodding his head to signal her to move backwards. "If we're on time…"

They shoved their feet into their boots and then walked outside. Charlie conjured a blanket to lay down on the green across the small road from his house. He placed the plates down next and summoned two glasses full of orange juice. Then he sat and motioned for her to join him.

When she did, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "So you don't catch cold," and conjured another blanket to wrap around them both.

They were halfway through their sandwiches, Poppy enjoying the experience of being tucked into Charlie's side, when a dragon in the distance roared.

"Brilliant," Charlie said, grinning. "Didn't miss it."

"Miss what?" Poppy asked, leaning forwards, squinting to see better.

"There," Charlie said, moving his arm from around her shoulders. She missed the warmth, but then he pointed for her, and his muscled bicep made Poppy lose focus on the conversation for a second.

"You alright there?" he asked, his lips twisted into a side smile.

"Yes," she replied, embarrassed.

Charlie said, "You're cute," and looked at her for a moment, and then he cleared his throat and pointed into the distance again. "Just there, by that tree? In a few minutes it'll be like a little dragon showcase. That roar was one of our Short-Snouts. She's had three eggs hatch and she's teaching them how to be-" he moved his arms to his sides, tipped his head back, and said in a deep voice which imitated a roar, "-ferocious."

Poppy burst out laughing and shoved his arm when he began to imitate the flapping of a dragon's wings. "Stop it!" she cried, and Charlie stopped, grinning at her.

A roar interrupted the moment, and Poppy leant back into his side, seeking his warm embrace again. She watched in awe as three baby dragons flapped their wings and began to play-fight.

After a while she whispered, "You get to see this every day?"

"Yeah. It's pretty great, isn't it?" he replied.

Charlie left for work half an hour later, and Poppy mooched around the house for a while until it was time for her to meet Dragan the Elder for an afternoon spent searching through the 'archives' again.

"Bounce?" Charlie called through the door to the archive room later that day. "Sorry Drag. Poppy. Ai mai văzut-o?"

"Left her in the fifties," Dragan replied in English, and loud enough for Poppy to hear.

She popped her head out of the little pocket she'd made in the archives, and waved at Charlie, who grinned back.

"Ready?" he asked, nodding his head towards the door.

Poppy finished cataloguing her parchment and then said, "Night," to Dragan, and ran out after Charlie, meeting him in the darkness of the Romanian early evening.

"I was thinking pub for dinner tonight, since I'm pretty sure I still owe you a drink because you got Fred and George those rosettes at the World Cup," he said, holding out an elbow. Poppy smiled and looped her arm with his for the walk to the broomshed.

He took control of the broom this time, flying them to his house to change. Since they were eating out, Poppy chose a red dress that she'd last worn in the summer. She was glad she'd thought to pack it at the last moment. It tied at the side, and she layered it with black tights and a black cardigan. She left her eye makeup as it usually was but added a pink-red lipstick. They met at the door and Poppy donned her coat and Hufflepuff scarf.

"You look beautiful," Charlie said with a sincerity which made Poppy's heart beat faster as butterflies filled her stomach.

"Thanks," she said, unused to the compliment, "but I'm going to take that with a pinch of salt since it's coming from someone who thinks dragons are stunning."

"Yeah, well, you're a Fireball, so…" he said, nodding his head at her red coat and grinning.

Poppy ducked her head and tucked her hair behind her ear. She gently poked him in the side and said, "Thanks," again.

"Right. Come on. It's not too far," Charlie said, holding the door open for her with a happy smile. "'Bout fifteen minutes walk if that's okay? Then we can both have a drink. Or we could bring a broom if you'd prefer?"

Poppy shook her head and looped her arm with his. "A walk sounds great."

The pub was lovely. It had large windows along the wall marking the entrance, with a semi-circle bar which took up another wall. There were floating candles high above them, lighting the room and uplighting the exposed wooden beams. Tables and chairs took up the majority of the rest of the space in various shapes and sizes - there were large round tables, small square ones, booths and rectangular banquet tables.

Charlie found them a table along the wall of windows and it took Poppy a moment to realise that the windows weren't reflecting the dark terrain outside at all, but were instead gigantic paintings of various landscapes. The one they were next to had a little golden plaque which read, Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa).

Once she'd gotten over her awe, Charlie ordered a few glasses of mulled wine with palinca. They sipped the warming drinks while waiting for their starters.

She took Charlie's lead with dinner, and they dined on paté and toasted bread, a delicious stew for main, followed by apple cake for dessert.

By the end of the meal Poppy felt giddy from the wine and punch, Charlie's intoxicating company, and the incredible food. She tried to ignore the feeling that this was the best date she'd ever been on, reminding herself that it wasn't a date at all.

"Ready to go?" Charlie asked once they'd finished their desserts.

Poppy bit her lip and then asked, "Can we stay a little longer?"

Charlie seemed happy with this and immediately ordered them both large mugs of decaf coffee.

"When's your train?" he asked, taking a sip of his coffee when it had arrived at the table.

"Christmas Eve," she said sadly. "If I'm okay to stay that long? I think it's at ten in the morning."

"Perfect, I'll book that train then. And of course you're fine to stay until whenever. I'm really enjoying having you here."

Poppy sat up straight, her eyes wide, palms hovering over the table. "You're going home for Christmas?" she asked excitedly. Charlie laughed and nodded. She just about controlled her squeal. "Amazing! Yay! Wonderful! That means I won't have to say goodbye until Christmas Day, right?"

"Merlin, share the bad news with all of us would you?" Quentin asked, stopping at their table. He was holding a tray with a round of drinks on it, and a bottle with three shot glasses.

"Charlie's coming back to England with me on Saturday," she explained, grinning up at him.

"Aw, I thought he'd proposed…" Quentin replied. "Well, your loss," he said to Charlie, who rolled his eyes. "Fancy joining us for a tipple?" he asked Poppy now, nodding over to a table in the corner. The inhabitants - four other sanctuary workers who Poppy recognised but didn't know yet, were openly staring and grinning. When she waved over, they all waved back.

Poppy smiled and turned to Charlie, shrugging. "It's up to you."

"No," Charlie said, shaking his head and smiling at his friends in the corner. "It's really not." He looked at Quentin. "Let us finish up coffee and then we'll come over."

They walked over soon after and Charlie introduced her to, "Helga, Quent you know, Silvia, Kar, and Max."

The bar and restaurant had filled up even more since Poppy and Charlie had arrived and there were no bigger tables available, so when Charlie went off to get them some drinks and a bottle to add to the table, Poppy found herself trying to squeeze into a seventh seat at a four seater table between a witch named Helga, and where Charlie would sit when he returned.

After a few minutes of Poppy being incredibly uncomfortable in her seat (but enjoying the company immensely), Charlie returned and placed the drinks on the table. She stood to let him pass and once he was settled, rather than letting her sit down in her tiny seat again, he wrapped a hand around her waist and pulled her onto his lap.

A small cheer erupted from the other four friends and Charlie rolled his eyes. "She could barely fit there. I was wincing from the bar just watching her," he complained as his friends laughed and jeered.

Poppy, still giddy, and even more so now that she was sat on Charlie's lap, laughed along.

"Oh come on!" Max said, returning from the loo and sitting down in his seat across from Poppy and Charlie. "I thought you did not have time for dating, but now you have suddenly a beautiful lady?" he asked in a heavy accent that Poppy couldn't quite place.

Charlie snorted and downed a shot. Poppy noticed that he didn't deny that they were a couple, and her heart melted… though it could have been the wine. She shifted and wrapped her arm around his shoulders, leaning her side into his chest.

"Thank you for the compliment but trust me, you wouldn't call me beautiful if you saw me in the morning," she replied, raising her glass to Max.

"I would make you breakfast though," Max said, and Poppy threw her head back to laugh.

Charlie's arm tightened around her waist and she ducked her head to look at him. He was playfully - she thought - glaring at the wizard, so she bopped him on the nose and said, "Play nice."

Charlie smiled up at her sheepishly, and she was happy to notice that his ears were tinged pink.

"Sorry," she whispered, "When I've been drinking I'm a little more…"

"Confident?" he asked, watching her face.

Poppy shook her head. "Embarrassing? And huggy?"

"Huggy?"

"Yeah… once my social anxiety is subdued I'm a cuddler, and you're not helping the situation by being so comfortable..."

"Well that sounds good to me," he whispered, and Poppy swallowed thickly at the look in his eye.

"Right!" Helga said, slamming her fist onto the table. "What's the bet up to? And does anyone want to reconsider?" she asked. Silvia grinned and pulled out a piece of parchment and a self-inking quill from her pocket.

"Fireball hatching," Charlie whispered to Poppy, "my money's on the twenty-eighth."

"I think Boxing Day sounds cool," Poppy replied, smiling.

"Right," Charlie said, raising his voice, "Up mine to five and move it to Boxing Day."

"I'll take that action," Quentin said, and the witch nodded, scribbling on the parchment.

Later that night, after they'd dropped off the others at their larger 'family' cottages, they walked back to the smaller staff cottages with Quentin, who was happily singing under his breath. Poppy listened with a serene smile. She was walking in step with Charlie, tucked under his arm which lay across her shoulders. One of her arms was bent at the elbow so that she could interlace her fingers with his hand there. Her other arm was around his waist while he had his free hand in his pocket, and he was laughing at his friend. At one point she'd felt conscious that she'd just grabbed his hand and tried to move away, but he'd pulled her back in wordlessly.

"Right," Quentin said, stopping outside Charlie's cottage. "This one's mine. See you."

He moved forwards, almost tripped over his own feet, and practically fell on top of Poppy who was glad she wasn't shorter or weaker - his height and weight would have flattened her otherwise.

Charlie pulled him off her and clapped him on the back. "Alright, enough of that."

"You've got a good one there," Quentin said, looking at them both.

"I know," they said in unison.

Poppy looked at Charlie and saw that he was watching her closely. She bit her lip - she couldn't tell if it was the romantic moon, the alcohol, or her blind attraction to Charlie, but she thought for a moment that he really meant what he'd said. Just like she had.

Quentin nodded at them both and walked up to the front door.

Poppy opened her mouth to say something, frowning as she watched him go.

"Don't," Charlie said, letting her hand go. He moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her, leaning his chin on her shoulder. "He'll figure it out soon."

Poppy leant back into his embrace. "Where does he actually live?" she asked, reaching her hands up to hold Charlie's forearms.

"Next door."

He shifted again and moved one arm around her waist, crossing her front, his other remained where it was. She moved as well, keeping one hand on his forearm which sat across her collarbone, and the other interlaced with his fingers at her waist. His fingers twitched and held hers tightly. He pulled her even closer to him and she sighed happily in his tight embrace. "You smell good," she admitted.

Charlie chuckled and swayed them both slowly. "So do you."

"Thanks. Sometimes I'm worried that I do smell, but that I've gotten used to it…" she said, turning her face slightly to look at him.

Charlie let out a huff of a laugh and kissed her on the nose. "You smell good. You smelt good this summer as well… And you look good."

"You look good too."

"Good."

"Good."

They smiled at each other happily for another moment, and Poppy found herself clueless as to what to do next. She didn't know if she should kiss him, or if it would ruin everything. She didn't know if he did this with all of his friends who were girls, or if it was just her… she didn't know if it would weird him out if she made the first move…

She could tell from the little wrinkle that appeared between his eyebrows that he was thinking the same thing.

He pursed his lips, and Poppy bit hers.

They'd reached a polite stalemate - Poppy hadn't felt this way before. It was different to the times she'd been on dates (which hadn't gone anywhere beyond a kiss). And it wasn't as if she and Charlie were on a date anyway…

She wrestled with the alcohol still running through her veins, which was amplifying the voice in the back of her mind telling her to just sink into his embrace, kiss him, hug him, be close to him. The voice was always there in some way, but she heard it louder than ever now, and put it down to the intoxicating mixture of drink and his arms around her.

She gulped, staring at his lips as he licked them. But then he looked back to the door, where Quentin was still trying and failing to use his key. Poppy watched him worry his bottom lip between his teeth, and just as she was about to lean in, he shook his head and whispered something to himself that sounded like, "Not now."

Poppy swallowed thickly and followed his gaze. "When will you tell him?" she asked after a moment, not knowing what else to say.

"Oi, Quent," he called.

"What? Did I forget something?" Quentin asked. Poppy tried to move away, but she giggled and shifted happily when Charlie's arms tightened around her and she found herself even more securely in his embrace.

"Yeah. You live next door."

Quentin looked at his keys, then at the door, then at Charlie and Poppy, and then at the cottage on the left. He swore and tried to jump the small hedge between their two small front gardens.

Poppy let out a snort of laughter when Quentin fell straight into the bush and crawled slowly over to his door. "See you tomorrow," he called after a struggle and another fall, his door slamming shut behind him.

Poppy screwed her face up. "I don't think I needed to know he lived there…"

"Why?" Charlie asked, carefully moving them both forwards now, shuffling towards the front door without breaking their hug.

"Because he's the one who kept me up the other night…"

Charlie laughed and released the arm around her waist so that he could unlock the door.

"Come on," he said. "I'll make you a hot chocolate?" he asked, releasing her as she removed her boots. He kissed her quickly on the top of the head and closed the door. "I think there's something I'd like to talk to you about? Hopefully-", but then a single bell rang out and his attention shifted to the clock on the wall. "Merlin… uh…" He scratched the top of his head and frowned. "Maybe… but… maybe not…" he muttered to himself.

"What's wrong?"

"I've got to get up in four hours. I start at five," he explained. "We could still talk though."

"It's okay," she whispered, shaking her head, though she was secretly disappointed. She knew Charlie needed to sleep. If he stayed awake and something happened because he was too tired to react in time, she'd never forgive herself. "We'll do it another time."

"Then at least let me walk you home," he said, smirking. He held out his arm and Poppy laughed, taking it.

He walked her to the study door and her eyes fluttered shut for a moment when he kissed her on the cheek.

When he pulled back and smiled at her, Poppy couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

"What?" he asked, blushing now. "Sorry, I was just joking around… I thought that's what… I shouldn't've…"

Poppy laughed again and shook her head. Now in bare feet, she leant up on her toes and kissed his cheek in reply. Pulling back a mere centimetre, she stayed close to him for a long moment and then let herself down.

Charlie grinned sheepishly and said, "I'll probably be gone when you wake up, but I'll leave a pepper-up potion out for you. Should sort out a headache if you have one." He gently pushed a few of her stray curls, which had escaped her ponytail, behind her ear and then he turned and walked up to bed.

Poppy fell onto her single bed and sighed deeply, letting the swaying room lull her into a deep sleep.